JPH08281043A - Pressure swing type oxygen enriching device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a pressure swing type oxygen enriching device for vehicles which is easily mountable at the vehicle and features high operating efficiency. CONSTITUTION: The pressure swing type oxygen enriching device having adsorption cylinders 2-A, 2-B packed with adsorbents 1, a four-way solenoid valve 3 for changing over the flow of compressed air, etc., thereto and a controller 7 is mounted at the vehicle. The device is provided with a pressurizing pipe 15 in such a manner that the device receives the supply of the compressed air from a compressed air device 60 equipped in the vehicle for the purpose of a compressed air utilizing device 70, such as air brake, as a raw material of the concn. gaseous oxygen of the device. A throttle 90 is disposed between the pressurizing pipe parts 15-(a) and 15-(b) constituting the pressurizing pipe 15 to prevent the flow of the excess air to the adsorption cylinders in the state of a large pressure difference between the adsorption cylinders where the adsorption storoke just begins and an air compressor 60.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pressure swing type oxygen concentrating device for a vehicle requiring an oxygen supply device such as an oxygen supply device for saving lives and an oxygen supply device for a tank in a live fishing vehicle. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is known a device called a pressure swing type oxygen concentrating device for concentrating and extracting oxygen gas from the air. This pressure swing type oxygen concentrator uses an adsorbent that mainly adsorbs nitrogen in the air, and uses the property that this adsorbent adsorbs nitrogen in proportion to the partial pressure of nitrogen to concentrate oxygen. It is a device that does.

The principle operation is as follows. As described above, using an adsorption cylinder filled with an adsorbent that mainly adsorbs nitrogen, first the pressure in the adsorption cylinder is adjusted to a predetermined pressure by supplying pressurized air from one end of the adsorption cylinder, while the other end is The gas that has passed through the adsorbent is taken out (while maintaining the pressure in the adsorption column). At this time, nitrogen in the pressurized air passing through the adsorbent is adsorbed by the adsorbent, and a gas enriched with oxygen can be taken out from the outlet side (adsorption process).

Next, when the gas in the adsorption cylinder is released into the atmosphere from the end to which the pressurized air is first supplied, the nitrogen partial pressure of the gas around the adsorbent particles lowers as the pressure decreases, and the adsorbent adsorbs. Desorb the nitrogen that was used. At this time, the gas around the adsorbent particles inside the adsorption column has a higher nitrogen ratio than air due to the desorbed nitrogen. Next, a part of the concentrated oxygen gas collected earlier is flowed into the adsorption cylinder (that is, backflow) from the end where the concentrated oxygen gas is taken out while keeping the pressure in the adsorption cylinder at almost atmospheric pressure (that is, backflow), thereby removing nitrogen from the adsorbent. Can be fully desorbed (desorption process).

The concentrated oxygen gas can be taken out by alternately repeating the above adsorption process and desorption process (thus, by swinging the pressure in the adsorption cylinder to the pressurized state and the atmospheric pressure state at this time). it can.

On the other hand, there is a vehicle requiring an oxygen supply device for saving lives of ambulances and fire engines, for a live fishing tank of a live fishing vehicle, or for reducing fatigue and refreshment of a driver of a long-distance transportation vehicle. is there. Conventionally, there are few examples of mounting a pressure swing type oxygen concentrator on a vehicle, but FIG. 2 shows an example of a relatively small pressure swing type oxygen concentrator mounted on a vehicle.

This oxygen concentrator is provided with two adsorption columns 2-A and 2-B filled with an adsorbent 1 and pipe lines 11-A and 11-B which communicate with one ends of the adsorption columns, respectively. The four-way solenoid valve 3 connected to the port A and the port B, and each pipe line 12 that communicates with the other end of each adsorption cylinder 2-A, 2-B.
A, 12-B communicating with the diaphragms 4-A, 4-B, a diaphragm 5 communicating with the collecting pipe 13 communicating with the other ends of these diaphragms 4-A, 4-B, and Product take-out pipe 1 that communicates with the other end (to send concentrated oxygen to the required place)
4 has an adsorption unit.

The compressor 6 communicated with the port P of the four-way solenoid valve 3 by the pressurizing pipe 15, the exhaust pipe 16 communicated with the port R of the four-way solenoid valve 3, and the coil 3 of the four-way solenoid valve 3.
-A, 3-b, and the control device 7 connected to the wiring 21-a, 21-b. Electric power is supplied to the compressor 6 and the controller 7 from a battery of a vehicle (not shown) via the wiring 22, the switch 8, and the wirings 23 and 24.

Next, the operation of the pressure swing type oxygen concentrator thus constructed will be described. Switch ON
Then, the compressor 6 and the controller 7 are started. When the controller 7 is started, the controller 7 alternately excites the coils 3-a and 3-b of the four-way solenoid valve 3 for approximately the same time every 10 seconds. 3A and 3B show the states of the solenoid valve 3 when the coils 3-a and 3-b are excited, respectively.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 2, when the solenoid valve 3 is set as shown in FIG. 3A, the air pressurized by the compressor 6 passes through the pressurizing pipe 15 and the four-way solenoid valve 3. And pressurizes the adsorption cylinder 2-A. At this time, the adsorption cylinder 2-A
The adsorbent 1 therein adsorbs nitrogen, passes through the throttle 4-A, and oxygen-enriched air flows out to the collecting pipe 13.

The oxygen-enriched air in the collecting pipe 13 is approximately equal to the ratio of the opening areas of the throttle 5 and the throttle 4-B (at this time, the adsorption cylinder 2-B is almost atmospheric pressure), and the product take-out pipe 14 is used. And flows out to the adsorption cylinder 2-B. The oxygen-enriched air is sent via the product withdrawal pipe 14 to the place where it is needed.

On the other hand, the oxygen-enriched air that has flowed into the adsorption column 2-B under almost atmospheric pressure is adsorbed by the adsorbent 1 in the adsorption column 2-B by lowering the partial pressure of nitrogen in the adsorption column 2-B. The so-called backwashing is carried out by promoting the desorption of nitrogen which has been carried out. The backwashed gas containing a large amount of nitrogen passes through the ports B and R of the solenoid valve 3 and is exhausted to the atmosphere via the exhaust pipe 16.

Such a flow state is maintained until the adsorbent 1 in the adsorption column 2-A has sufficiently adsorbed nitrogen (about 10 seconds), and then the controller 7 controls the coil 3-b of the four-way solenoid valve 3.
By exciting the solenoid valve 3, the solenoid valve 3 is switched as shown in FIG. 3B, and the adsorption and desorption processes of the adsorption cylinders 2-A and 2-B are switched.

The coil 3-b of the four-way solenoid valve 3 is shown in FIG.
Immediately after being excited as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the gas inside the adsorption cylinder 2-A, which has been pressurized, is discharged from the four-way solenoid valve 3 and the exhaust pipe 1.
The nitrogen that has been evacuated quite rapidly via 6 and adsorbed on the adsorbent 1 is desorbed under reduced pressure due to this depressurizing effect. Next, the above-mentioned backwashing is performed and the desorption process proceeds. on the other hand,
At this time, the adsorption cylinder 2-B increases its pressure in accordance with the mass flow rate of air supplied by the compressor 6, and the adsorption process proceeds. In this way, by alternately exciting the coils 3-a and 3-b of the solenoid valve 3, the oxygen-enriched air can be taken out from the product take-out pipe 14 almost continuously.

[0015]

When the conventional pressure swing type oxygen concentrating device as described above is mounted on a vehicle, it is required due to restrictions such as limited size of the vehicle, power consumption, and cost. It is difficult to attach an oxygen concentrator having an oxygen supply capacity of

Therefore, the present inventors provide a pressure swing type oxygen concentrating device for a vehicle which can be easily mounted on a vehicle and has a high operating efficiency, so that the pressure swing type oxygen concentrating device should originally be equipped with a compressor. The pressure swing type oxygen concentrator is connected to the air tank etc. of the air compression device that the vehicle is equipped with for air brakes, etc., by connecting the compressed air from the vehicle air compression device with the pressure swing type oxygen concentrator. A pressure swing type oxygen concentrating device for a vehicle has been invented so that it can be supplied to an adsorption column of the device.

However, in the device constructed as described above, excess air is supplied from the large-capacity air compressor installed in the vehicle as compared with the air flow required by the pressure swing type oxygen concentrator. Flows to oxygen concentrator.

That is, the flow rate of the air flowing from the air compression device of the vehicle through the pressurizing pipe to the adsorption cylinder whose pressure has been about the atmospheric pressure just after the desorption process is completed and the adsorption process has just started is equal to that of the air compression device. Since the pressure difference between the adsorption cylinders is large, it becomes excessive. Therefore, pressurized air passes through the adsorption cylinder in a shorter time (or faster speed) than the time (or speed) at which the adsorbent adsorbs nitrogen, and the gas in which oxygen is not sufficiently concentrated is the product gas. Will be taken out as.

By the way, such a problem is solved by automatically reducing the flow rate of the pressurized air supplied when the pressure inside the adsorption cylinder rises close to the pressure of the air compressor of the vehicle (total This is not a fatal defect (thinking through the adsorption process). However, it causes a decrease in concentrated oxygen concentration (or a decrease in oxygen concentration efficiency) that cannot be ignored.

The present invention solves these problems and provides a pressure swing type oxygen concentrating device for a vehicle, which can be easily mounted on a vehicle, has high operating efficiency, and can maintain high oxygen concentrating efficiency. It is an issue.

[0021]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is installed in a vehicle having an air compression device for an air brake or the like, and uses the air compression device as a raw material of concentrated oxygen gas as a product. A compressed air supply for a vehicle pressure swing type oxygen concentrator having a pipeline for receiving the supply of compressed air from the air compression device, and supplying compressed air from the air compression device to the adsorption cylinder. The system has a throttle.

The throttle may be provided in the pipeline, between the air compressor and the pipeline, or between the four-way solenoid valve that switches the gas flow to the adsorption cylinder and the pipeline. Further, the throttle may be configured to reduce the opening area of the gas flow passage inside the four-way solenoid valve.

The throttle provided in the device of the present invention has an opening area installed on the concentrated oxygen extraction side of the adsorption column (see FIG. 2).
It is preferable to set the aperture area of the diaphragms 4-A and 4-B) to several times to several tens of times.

[0024]

According to the present invention, in order to reduce the size of the oxygen concentrator, the air compressor provided in the vehicle as described above is connected to the pressure swing type oxygen concentrator by a pipe line. It is used as a source of air for raw materials. As a result, the oxygen concentration action performed by using the adsorbent filled in the adsorption column is basically the same as that of the conventional one.

As described above, according to the present invention, the compressor, which the pressure swing type air concentrator has to have when mounting the pressure swing type air concentrator on the vehicle, is omitted. Therefore, the size and weight of the pressure swing type air concentrator are significantly reduced. . Therefore, it can be easily mounted on the vehicle, and the cost of the product is significantly reduced.

In the pressure swing type oxygen concentrator according to the present invention, since the compressed air supply system for supplying the compressed air from the air compressor to the adsorption cylinder is provided with the throttle,
In the state where there is a large pressure difference between the air compression device and the adsorption cylinder whose pressure at the beginning of the adsorption process is about atmospheric pressure, the above-mentioned problem is caused by the flow rate of the pressurized air flowing into the adsorption cylinder from the air compression device. It can be set to the extent that it does not.

The throttle provided in the compressed air supply system is
Even when the pressure of the adsorption cylinder, which occupies most of the adsorption stroke, approaches the pressure of the air compression device, it limits the flow rate of the pressurized air flowing from the air compression device to the adsorption cylinder, and it also adsorbs with the air compression device. Although a pressure difference is generated between the cylinders, originally, it is not preferable that the pressure of the adsorption cylinder does not reach the pressure of the air compression device because it reduces the amount of nitrogen adsorbed by the adsorbent.

In this sense, it is not preferable that the aperture provided in the compressed air supply system is too small. For this reason, the aperture area of the throttle provided in the compressed air supply system is selected to be several times to several tens of times the aperture area of the throttle in the immediate vicinity of the adsorption cylinder on the concentrated oxygen extraction side of the adsorption cylinder. It is preferable because it can solve the problem.

[0029]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A pressure swing type oxygen concentrator for a vehicle according to the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the embodiment shown in FIG. In addition, in the embodiment shown in FIG.
The parts having the same configurations as those of the conventional device shown in FIG.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 differs from the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 in that the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 has its own compressor 6 for supplying compressed air to the pressure swing type oxygen concentrator. In contrast, it does not have such a dedicated compressor.

In the apparatus of FIG. 1, the pressurizing pipe 15 is connected to the air tank 60-a of the air compressing device 60 for the compressed air utilizing device 70 which uses compressed air in the vehicle such as an air brake, and the other end of the pressurizing pipe 15 is connected. To the port P of the four-way solenoid valve 3. The pressurizing pipe 15 may be connected to a conduit 80 that connects the air tank 60-a and the compressed air utilizing device 70 instead of the air tank 60-a.

The pressurizing pipe 15 includes a pressurizing pipe portion 15-a on the air compressor 60 side and a pressurizing pipe portion 15-on the four-way solenoid valve 3 side.
The pressurizing pipe portions 15-a and 15-a are provided with a throttle 90 so as to communicate with each other. The aperture area of the diaphragm 90 is several times to several tens of times the aperture area of the diaphragms 4-A and 4-B.

In addition, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the wiring 2 for supplying power to the compressor 6 in the configuration shown in FIG.
2 is the same as that shown in FIG. 2 except for 4, and the operation of the four-way solenoid valve 3 is the same as that described in FIG.

In the pressure swing type oxygen concentrator according to the present embodiment, compressed air is supplied from the air compressor 60 installed in the vehicle for an air brake or the like and does not have its own air compressor. Therefore, it is a pressure swing type oxygen concentrating device for a vehicle that can be easily mounted on a vehicle and has high operating efficiency.

In this device, the air compression device 60 is used.
And the pressurizing pipe portion 15 that communicates with the port P of the four-way solenoid valve 3.
Since the throttle 90 is provided at the connecting portion between -a and 15-a, in the state where the pressure difference between the air compression device 60 and the adsorption cylinder whose pressure at the beginning of the adsorption stroke is about atmospheric pressure is large, The flow rate of the pressurized air flowing from the air compression device 60 into the adsorption cylinder can be set to such a level that the above-mentioned problems do not pose a problem.

The present invention has been specifically described above based on the illustrated embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and within the scope of the present invention shown in the claims, the specific structure thereof. It goes without saying that various changes may be added to the.

For example, although the throttle 90 is provided in the middle of the pressurizing pipe 15 in the above embodiment, this throttle is used as the air compression device 6.
The same effect can be obtained by disposing between 0 and the pressurizing pipe 15 or between the pressurizing pipe 15 and the four-way solenoid valve 3.

As described above, the pressurizing tube 15 is squeezed 9
In the four-way solenoid valve 3, the coil 3-
By narrowing the opening area of the internal passage that communicates the port P and the port A when a is excited and the internal passage that communicates the port P and the port B when the coil 3-b is excited, as in the case of the diaphragm described above. Is also achieved.

As described above, in the vehicle pressure swing type oxygen concentrator according to the present invention, the compressed air supply system for supplying the compressed air from the air compressor to the adsorption cylinder may be provided with a throttle.

[0040]

As described above, in the present invention,
When the pressure swing air concentrator is mounted on a vehicle, the size and weight of the pressure swing air concentrator can be significantly reduced by omitting the compressor that the pressure swing air concentrator must have.
Therefore, it can be easily mounted on the vehicle, and the cost of the product is significantly reduced. When this device is installed in the passenger space of a person, no extra casing is required to prevent noise from the compressor.

Also, when the present apparatus is mounted in a place exposed to wind and rain, it is relatively easy to take waterproof measures for electric parts. Further, since the efficiency of the air compressor is generally better as it is larger, it is advantageous to use the air compressor of the vehicle in terms of running cost.

In the pressure swing type oxygen concentrating device for a vehicle according to the present invention, since the compressed air supply system for supplying the compressed air from the air compressing device to the adsorption cylinder is provided with a throttle, the air compressing device and the adsorption process are started. The flow rate of the pressurized air flowing from the air compressor into the adsorption cylinder can be set to such a level that the above-mentioned problem does not pose a problem in a state where the pressure difference between the adsorption cylinder whose fresh pressure is about atmospheric pressure is large.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle pressure swing type oxygen concentrator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional pressure swing type oxygen concentrator.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view explaining the operation of a solenoid valve 3 in the device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Adsorbent 2-A, 2-B Adsorption cylinder 3 Four-way solenoid valve 3-a, 3-b Coil 4-A, 4-B Throttle 5 Throttle 7 Control device 14 Product extraction pipe 15 Pressurization pipe 60 Air compression device 60- A Air tank 70 Compressed air utilization device 80 Pipeline 90 Throttle

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle equipped with an air compressor for an air brake or the like, which has a pipeline for receiving compressed air from the air compressor as a raw material of concentrated oxygen gas which is a product, and has its own air. A pressure swing type oxygen concentrator for a vehicle, which does not have a compression device, characterized in that a throttle is provided in a compressed air supply system for supplying compressed air from the air compression device to the adsorption cylinder. Concentrator.